


roygbiv

by C4ff3in3



Series: ROYGBIV [4]
Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Dragons, Servants, Summer Solstice
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-20
Updated: 2021-02-20
Packaged: 2021-03-16 06:00:48
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 1,665
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29571429
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/C4ff3in3/pseuds/C4ff3in3
Summary: It had been almost a year since Sozin's comet and Zuko finally thought he’d been getting the hang of being Firelord.orZuko struggles.
Series: ROYGBIV [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1846855
Comments: 4
Kudos: 49





	1. Dragon Flame

**Author's Note:**

> Unless some serious inspiration strikes, this will be the last work in this series. So please enjoy!

It had been almost a year since Sozin's comet and Zuko finally thought he’d been getting the hang of being Firelord. 

Someday he'd turn a corner and be reminded of his childhood and be thrown into the insecurity that came with being recently promoted to crown prince. Other days he spoke a little too passionately and servants would flinch. 

He’d spend the rest of those days reassuring them that he wasn’t Ozai while simultaneously trying to convince himself of that same fact.

But for the most part, Zuko felt he had been doing well. His nation was recovering, the relief efforts were gaining traction, and he regularly got letters from Uncle. Everything was seemingly perfect.

But Zuko couldn’t help but feel anxious. Ever since the days got longer he felt like he was crawling out of his skin. It was a struggle for Zuko to sit still, let alone pay attention. 

He had never had this problem before. 

If there was anything his years at sea had taught him, was to sit still lest he gave himself sea sickness. Those first couple of months at sea were rough for the prince who had never spent more than a week off dry land. And the boredom between Avatar leads had driven him to meditation to keep himself busy. 

During those years, he meditated for hours at a time without so much of a twitch, yet now he couldn’t help but squirm like a child.

This new behavior had already caught the attention of his staff, so he had to do something before his court noticed. The Fire Nation was too fragile for there to be doubts in his leadership. So Zuko would do what he had always done, work until he found a solution or couldn’t work anymore.

At the crack of dawn, Zuko found himself on the training grounds, hoping to burn off his newfound energy before he began his days. He began with mediation and taking in the feel of Agni’s rays. He started with his basics as his kata’s slowly increased in difficulty. Iroh’s voice played like a soundtrack in his head.

“Power in firebending comes from the breath.” He heard as he exhaled.

“Control, nephew, control.” 

“Strong root!”

He continued until he found himself instinctively completing the dancing dragon. His fire up until this point had remained a traditional red, but once his body began moving with these traditional steps he couldn’t bring himself to hold back. 

Even though he had been practicing for hours, Zuko felt as if he had just started. He felt hyper-aware of everything. Agni’s rays on his back, the Cicada’s song, and the wind running through his hair.

He started moving faster until there was no differentiating between the colors of his bending. The streams of flames from his palms intertwined. As the form came to an end, Zuko couldn’t help but look at his hands incredulously.

“Dragon-Flame.” He whispered in awe. 

It was just as he remembered it at the sun temple. The anticipation he had been feeling for the past week was replaced by new life. 

For the first time in his life, he felt completely relaxed. He couldn’t remember a time he had felt this good, not even when he still had his mother. Those early days with his mom, while wonderful, were filled with fear of disappointing Ozai with his abysmal bending. He felt carefree.


	2. Miren's Surprise

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Miren had worked at the palace since she was a teen.
> 
> or
> 
> Miren discovers a certain Fire Lord.

Miren had worked at the palace since she was a teen. Her years of service under Fire Lord Azulon were nothing like those of today.

Servants didn’t walk with their heads bowed in shame or wear long sleeves to hide the burns of their failure. They weren’t afraid of their own shadows. 

If nothing else, she was grateful that Fire Lord Zuko didn’t make the staff fear for their lives while within the palace walls. His polite manner had drawn in all of the palace staff and they couldn’t help but want to see their new Firelord happy.

So when she noticed him becoming more irritated and short-tempered, she couldn’t help but feel concerned. The younger palace hands were nervous that this change in temperament was his inner “Phoenix King” arriving, but she knew that wasn’t it.

Miren was debating whether she should ask the new Firelord if she could do anything to relieve this new anxiety when his attitude seemed to change overnight.

Where Fire Lord Zuko was polite and withdrawn before, he was now exuberant in every task he did. He smiled after meetings with the court, laughed with the children while walking through Caldera, and hummed in the corridors.

Miren wondered what could have prompted this change, and she learned one morning when looking for her coworkers. 

As firebenders rose with the sun, the servants had to be awake to serve those of Sozin’s blood. 

There hadn’t been any firebenders on the palace staff in years. Most had been drafted in the Fire Nation military while the non-benders made up the bulk of everyday service. Miren was looking for her dawn-shift replacement when she suddenly noticed a crown of servants at the royal training grounds.

As she approached she finally got a glimpse at what her coworkers had been gawking at.

Fire Lord Zuko seemed to be in the middle of a kata, but it was unlike anything Miren had ever seen. Her father had been a recruit trainer for the Fire Nation Army so she had seen a lot of bending in her life, but none of it could compare to this.

While the rest of firebending looked angry and vicious, Fire Lord Zuko’s movement seemed more fluid and water-like than any firebending technique she had ever seen. And if the fluidity was shocking, then the flames sprouting from his fingertips were downright extraordinary.

Until now Miren had been under the impression that red, orange and blue were the only colors possible with firebending. The multicolor flame being wielded by the Firelord said otherwise.

She couldn’t believe her eyes and suddenly her colleagues gawking made a lot more sense. Before she could fully process what she was seeing, the servants suddenly started running off in different directions. She followed, hoping to understand what she had been seeing and why they suddenly left when Lord Zuko finally finished his routine. 

As he began to leave the training ground, Miren scurried off before she could be caught by their enigmatic Fire Lord.


	3. The Masters

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Zuko didn't know why he was feeling this way, but he figured it couldn't be good.
> 
> Or
> 
> Zuko demonstrates new skills and becomes a household name.

The servents had been giving Zuko weird looks all day.

He couldn’t figure out what he had been doing wrong, but no matter what he did they stared, whispered frantically, and ran away before he could try and fix it. 

The servant’s behavior was putting him on edge and his morning routine didn’t seem to release him of his worries like it usually did. He found himself getting antsier until even the servant’s weird behavior wasn’t enough to hold his attention. 

He had been distracted all morning and felt a tugging sensation in his chi, but he couldn’t figure out why that feeling was there. Usually, he only felt his chi when he was meditating, or firebending. But today it seemed to have a mind of its own.

He tried to get some work done, he really did. But by noon Zuko was going out of his mind with the need to be somewhere else.

He didn’t know where he was going, but he figured he’d follow his instincts. He was so caught up following the feeling that he didn’t notice the palace servants following him out the gates, curious about his strange behavior.

When Zuko finally stopped walking, he found himself in the heart of Caldera City at Roku’s statue. Zuko didn’t know why he was here, but the anxious feeling was returning. As if his chi was pushing him to do something.

Zuko didn’t know what his spirit wanted, but he figured he’d do what he always did when he felt this way, dance. Zuko went to his opening stance tuning out the crowd that had come to watch their lord unexpectedly turning up at Roku’s statue. 

Like every time he did the dragon dance, his fire began red and evolved as he lost himself in the steps. His heartbeat was the only rhythm he needed as he gained energy and momentum from the sun. If Zuko were in his right mind, he would have noticed that today was the summer solstice, which could help explain his overabundance of energy, but he was too focused on the feeling.

As his dragon-flame was emerging he heard gasps in the background, but their surprise isn’t what held his focus. 

He completed the dance, and as it came to an end he couldn’t help but begin again but with a new ferocity. Only this time Ran and Shaw had accompanied him.

His people scrambled away in fright, but Zuko couldn’t bring himself to be worried about them or fear for his safety like the last time he met them. The only thing he knew was the dance.

Zuko and the dragons danced for hours. Sometimes they’d add a step and he’d follow or he’d take control for them to accompany him. They danced through the city all the while his flames never lost their rainbow tint. 

And when the sun had finally begun to set his movement began to wind down.

“Thank you young bender.” He heard as he finally stopped. 

And before he could question their appearance, the strange trance he seemed to be in all day, or their thanks, they took off into the sunset.

He watched them retreat until he could see them no more before looking at his people. They were kneeling beneath him. They whispered in awe of his power. Of the fire, no one had ever seen a human wield.

And if generations later there were stories of a “Dragon Lord” and the new life he breathed into the Fire Nation of old, who was Zuko to question it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading! Feel free to leave a comment. I'd love to hear your thoughts!


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